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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23018755">Best Friends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/komkommertijd/pseuds/komkommertijd'>komkommertijd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Formula 1 RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gossip, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:48:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23018755</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/komkommertijd/pseuds/komkommertijd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Charles sometimes calls Daniel his best friend. He is never Charles's first choice when Pierre is around though. Pierre is Charles's best friend too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>69</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Best Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It took me a panic attack and two mental breakdowns to write this, but it's finally done.<br/>I don't exactly know what I did here, but I like it and it has been an amazing thing to let some of my emotions out. Some characters and the first part of this story are vaguely own experiences, although I never heard gossip about myself and I think I'd rather not know exactly what my friends say about me behind my back, so this is all purely fictional and has nothing to do with the people in my life, I just used them as inspiration for this (considering that my classmate might read this I'll just leave this in).<br/>My mock exam week is no fun and today it was time for English as a second language, let's hope I didn't mess this up as badly as this fic. As always, please ignore my grammar and spelling, I'm just a dumb kid with a correction program (and I like to mess up with present and past tense).</p><p>Lastly, I just want to mention that I don't consider myself a pro at writing Hurt/Comfort or any kind of people hurting for that matter, so don't expect too much.</p><p>Alrighty, have fun now and enjoy reading this :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daniel is loud and emotional.</p><p>He talks fast and he talks a lot, during the breaks, during class, making dumb jokes with his friends. He drives the teachers mad and yet they all like him, get along with him well, talk to him with so much kindness that he sometimes forgets that they are teachers and not some random friends of his parents. He is polite and helps out wherever he can and gets along well with most of his classmates.</p><p>Daniel is always up to making fun of himself just to get a laugh out of the others. He joins into conversations whenever he can, throwing in helpful comments here and there. He is good at making people laugh, knows exactly what he has to do, what buttons he has to press to have them crying laughing on the floor, and he enjoys making them laugh. Making people laugh means they acknowledge him, which means that they notice him and it makes him feel accomplished because somehow the attention is back on him for a split of a second.</p><p>He is smart, too smart for his age as his mother likes to say, and he manages to stay on top of his class with good grades. He struggles with some subjects of course, but everyone always tells him that he can do anything and that he is smart enough to do it. He just gives up then, tired of arguing about his mediocre maths skills that some people might still be jealous of. Daniel spends most of his free time studying, either rewriting his notes from class and memorizing them or doing homework and flashcards on his laptop. His classmates make fun of him for it, telling him that he is a nerd and questioning his sanity. He doesn't say anything about it because at least they talk about him for once.</p><p>Disappointment is something he deals with all the time. It frustrates him because his classmates just don't get it, rolling their eyes in annoyance when Daniel looks at a C with dissatisfaction. He's doing okay, it's just one grade, he is such a nerd for complaining about that grade. Sometimes they laugh at him as well, how can smart Daniel score lower than a B? It puts pressure on him, makes his stomach hurt and he wants to punch the wall in his room in frustration. He is disappointed in himself, he knows he can do better, he knows his classmates are right. Eight hours of studying were not enough for his stupid little brain to remember.</p><p>He does not believe that he is as smart as everyone thinks, he just works hard until he feels tired and worn out, until his hand cramps with every letter that he writes, until his brain keeps signaling him to stop, too overwhelmed with so much information. It makes him feel anxious if he doesn't study like this lately, yet somehow he can often not find the energy inside him to continue working. He hates himself for putting his grades in danger like that and he forces himself to open a window to let fresh air in, get a glass of water, sit down and study until the paper blurs in front of his eyes and his thighs and back hurt from sitting for too long.</p><p>He keeps getting the results he is used to and smiles at his A- in Chemistry. His parents are proud of him, none of his classmates care.</p><p>Daniel never had a best friend. Sure, he had some guys from his class, like Charles, who tells him about his relationships and laughs at his jokes. Sometimes he texts Daniel and tells him how much he loves him, how hard he laughs at the jokes and reassures him that he can share his dreams and thoughts with Charles. Daniel sometimes invites him over to do stuff together, sometimes school-related, sometimes they just go out to eat ice cream or eat lunch together. Charles sometimes calls Daniel his best friend. He is never Charles's first choice when Pierre is around though. Pierre is Charles's best friend too.</p><p>Esteban seems like a likeminded person. He too laughs at Daniel's jokes, takes great interest in the things Daniel is passionate about and even shares a few of those. They both watch the same movies, like the same sports teams and Daniel even gets Esteban to watch Formula One. He thinks Esteban is his best friend, benevolently ignoring the fact that he rarely ever replies to Daniel's messages and much rather spends time with other friends. Daniel gets excited about their conversations, feels like he could spend days talking to him about the things they both enjoyed. He starts doubting it's a mutual feeling when a classmate of his says something about Esteban gossiping about Daniel. He does not know whether he should believe it. They talk less. Esteban still never texts back.</p><p>He feels alone, hurt, stressed, he can't even put all his emotions into words. He starts writing, trying to put his nameless feelings down on the empty document on his laptop, he describes the pain and the longing for a friend. He writes about love and friendship, things he wants but never had, imagines what having a best friend must be like, coming up with stories about unconditional love. He reads some of it out to his mother and she encourages him to keep writing. She wants him to become a writer now.</p><p>Daniel does not know what he wants to do in the future. All he has ever known is school, endless classes, studying, getting grades in return for his work. He is scared of the future, sometimes he can't fall asleep, his head full of dreams and hopes and ideas that he knows will never be real. He hugs his blanket closer, imagining what the warmth and comfort of another body next to his would feel like in a situation like this. He loves and hates thinking about the future. Sometimes he is not even sure whether he will live long enough to find out but it's a thought he tries to push back, almost as scary as the idea of having to grow up.</p><p>He gets a lot of compliments not only for how smart he is but also for how grown up he acts. He appears confident, his smile always present, always a joke on the tip of his tongue, but he is also respectful and kind, independent and oh so clever. His mother always says he could move out already if he wants to. Daniel knows he wants to get away from home and into big cities in faraway countries, away from the things suffocating him, but he also knows the heartbreaking feeling of being so far away from his family. He decides to wait until after his graduation to move away from this way too small town.</p><p>Daniel still smiles brightly at school, he still talks too loudly, laughs too hard, makes jokes at the wrong time and annoys his teachers. He is still on top of his class and everyone likes him. Charles and Esteban talk to him less and he doesn't take too much interest in their conversations that were mostly about food, girls or bullying each other. He sits alone during his breaks now and quietly eats his lunch. He feels nauseous but he keeps eating, he wants to vomit it all out and he feels sick, but he keeps eating. He needs to eat, after all. Daniel usually puts his headphones on now to give off the impression that he doesn't want to talk to anyone. He silently hopes someone will ignore that sign.</p><p>He still talks to people, listens to their stories and makes jokes about it but sometimes he stands on the corridor on his own, looking out the window. He doesn't know how to talk to people then if they come up to him. He stays quiet and listens to what they have to say. He does not have the energy to keep being sunny boy Daniel then, nodding and humming and giving short answers. Sometimes he hides away in a cubicle on the school toilet during class, crying and sobbing until he feels tired and exhausted. He tells his teachers about not feeling well quietly and as soon as he closes the door to the classroom behind him he lets it all out.</p><p>He has gotten used to the way he looks when he is crying by now. His cheeks and eyes turn redder and he watches salty tears running towards the reddened tip of his nose. His eyes are half-closed, his eyelids too tired to stay wide open. He exhales shuddery breathes through his equally red lips, chapped and hurting from his nervous bites and keeping down the noise. At first, he is scared of what he sees, it doesn't look like him, nothing like the always positive, always cheerful, always confident Daniel. He looks smaller in the mirror, with his curls sticking up in all directions. Usually, the sight is accompanied by a white shirt hanging low around his neck when he cries at home, at night. He looks paler then, even more tired than during the day.</p><p>Daniel stays up late, mostly to write. He writes down everything that comes to his mind and he writes until his eyes fall shut and the laptop screen turns black. He writes until he runs out of words to explain what he feels and he thinks about new plots and ideas as soon as his head hits the pillow. He lies awake a lot, always thinking about his future and his social life and his grades and his feelings and he hates being a teenager. He can't quiet down his brain, he wants to sleep and give his exhausted muscle some time to rest, but his mind is loud and all over the place and Daniel fights until he finally falls asleep.</p><p>Hit teacher asks him to stay a little longer after a test and tells him that he noticed his change in behavior, how sad he appears when no one is watching. Daniel swallows down tears when his teacher tells him to talk about it if he wants to. He wants to talk about it so badly but his throat tightens and no word comes out. All the words vanish from his brain, there is nothing where he usually finds so many.</p><p>Max is the new boy in his class. There are so many rumors about his that it is hard to believe he's a good guy. Daniel tries to ignore the gossip and it's worth it when Max introduces himself to the class after the break. He's funny and kind and handsome and he appears to be so perfect. Daniel knows that he switched schools because of bullying and offers him the empty seat next in the first row. He earns a smile and a surprisingly smart seatmate and there's hope in his heart.</p><p>Daniel has never had a real best friend, no one who asked him to hang out or do things after school. He is always the one who has to set things up and ask people to do stuff together. He has never had a friend who considered him their best friend.</p><p>Max is different. He is popular and just so genuinely nice that people can't help but like him. He finds a lot of friends and it hurts when Daniel hears them talk when Max is not around. He knows what it feels like and he hates himself for not stopping them, for listening and not saying anything. Instead, he sits with Max during lunch and tells him all of his dumb jokes. He enjoys making people laugh, but making Max laugh – it makes his heart flutter and they smile at each other with real smiles, a rarity nowadays.</p><p>The first time Max comes over to have a movie night, Daniel feels incredibly nervous. His parents are excited for him to finally bring a friend over for once and they love Max so much it's almost embarrassing. Max just smiles and laughs and the way his eyes shine when Daniel's dad calls him son, not without Dan wanting to die of embarrassment obviously, hurts in an odd way Daniel cannot understand just yet. Max tells him about it later when they're watching Iron Man and Daniel hugs him tightly and keeps an arm around his shoulder until the movie is over, subtly trying to make Max feel better. He suddenly feels bad for being sad about such simple things when Max is experiencing a deep kind of pain that no one could ever begin to understand, let alone heal.</p><p>Max starts spending more time at Daniel's place then and Daniel has less time to be sad about how his classmates treat him. He only has eyes for Max and all the things they do together.</p><p>They go biking together in summer when the hot noon sun begins to set and leaves a golden light on the wheat fields. A warm breeze ruffles through their hair and they make their way down the road, laughing and cheering and when Daniel closes his eyes and lets go of the handlebars for a while, spreading his arms in the wind, he feels free. Free of sorrow and pain and strong enough to conquer the whole world. It feels amazing and having Max with him makes it all so much better.</p><p>Daniel has never been in love before. He doesn't know what it is supposed to feel like and whether what he feels is actually love or just something weird he won't get behind. He lays awake at night with his phone in hand now, googling signs that he is in love until his eyes fall shut. After reading through the 21st result, he puts his phone down, buries his head in the pillow and sighs loudly.</p><p>Maybe this is the biggest sign after all.</p><p>His dad takes Max with them to go karting. Daniel loves karting and feels grateful for every minute he gets to spend on the track and again, having Max with him just makes the whole experience better. Max is good, although he keeps saying that it is his first time ever sitting in a kart. They spend the car ride back home jabbering in the backseat with soft music accompanying their banter. Max laughs and Daniel's heart skips a beat. He doesn't join in and his dad shoots a knowing look his way through the rearview mirror. He would blush if he could.</p><p>Someone told Esteban that a friend of someone's brother's cousin heard that Charles talked shit about Daniel.</p><p>Daniel does not leave his room for a week. His sister enters his room quietly every day, leaving his schoolwork by the door and looking at him with a sad expression on her face. Daniel does his school work and wets the paper with his tears. When his head hurts, he sleeps, when he wakes up, he paces around his room and thinks so hard about what he did wrong. Why would Charles do this to him? There is no reason for him to hurt Daniel like this.</p><p>There's a knock on the door and when Daniel opens it and stares at Max, he immediately wraps his arms around Max's shoulders and starts crying again. He doesn't know who invited Max over or whether he is visiting on his own accords, but Daniel is simply relieved to see him. Max doesn't say anything, just holds him until he calms down again and then a little longer and Daniel is glad to have a best friend like him. They watch Iron Man again and Max rests his head on Daniel's shoulder. He knows that it will be okay as long as he does not lose this friendship.</p><p>The first time they kiss is awkward and different from the things Daniel knows from the movies. They're watching some Marvel movie again, Daniel has his arm wrapped around Max's shoulder and they somehow end up staring at each other until Daniel notices the not so subtle way Max's eyes move between his eyes and his lips. His heart beats so hard he can hear it echoing in his head and he feels so nervous all of a sudden. There are a million thoughts running through his mind at the same time because <em>what if he is imagining it and Max doesn't want it</em>?</p><p>It's messy and unromantic and more teeth than lips clashing at first and Daniel has no idea what exactly he is doing. All he can do at this moment is close his eyes and enjoy the moment while it lasts. He holds Max closer to himself and they smile awkwardly at each other before Max's hand finds its way to Daniel's neck to pull him back down. The angle is a little weird and Daniel's neck hurts badly from the unfortunate position he's in. He forgets everything he has learned about kissing from wikiHow posts and just does whatever feels right – Max is not complaining.</p><p>They are still best friends and inseparable, except Daniel now gets to hold Max's hand in public and kiss him in private, or whenever he thinks no one is looking at least, and their movie nights sometimes turn into evenings of playing board games with Daniel's family. It's not like things changed much, they're still eating lunch together and hanging out, except they cuddle more when they're doing homework together. Nothing much has changed, they still talk about everything that comes to their mind, their playful banter is still the same and they still go to the other for comfort.</p><p>School is still not easy and the pressure to do well is challenging, the people that talk behind Daniel's back still hurt him and he sometimes still craves real friends. His teachers still love him and so does his family. And Max.</p><p>Nothing has changed yet everything is different.</p><p>Max is now his best friend, the person he has the strongest and happiest friendship with. The one he can laugh with. The one who speaks so highly of him while everyone else spreads rumors. The one who allows him to be a fool and an idiot sometimes. Someone who accepts his flaws and helps him to overcome hardships. Max is his best friend in the whole entire universe.</p><p>He is in love with his best friend, which is the best thing that has ever happened to him.</p>
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